{"id":4710,"date":"2023-03-13T22:22:44","date_gmt":"2023-03-13T19:22:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rochaksafar.com\/?p=4710"},"modified":"2023-03-13T22:22:44","modified_gmt":"2023-03-13T19:22:44","slug":"how-far-is-the-sky","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rochaksafar.com\/how-far-is-the-sky\/","title":{"rendered":"How Far Is The Sky?"},"content":{"rendered":"

How Far Is The Sky?<\/span><\/h1>\n

The sky is a very big thing. It is filled with stars, planets, clouds, black and blue light, and more. It begins at your feet and extends about 300 miles <\/a>into the air. It is a little thinner at the poles and thicker near the equator.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Sun<\/span><\/h2>\n

The Sun is the hottest star in our solar system. Its core has temperatures up to 27 million degF (about 15 million degC), and its outer layers – the corona – can reach up to 3.5 million degF (2 million degC).<\/span><\/p>\n

The surface of the Sun, the photosphere, is relatively cool, at about 10,000 deg F (5,500 deg C). So we can’t see it directly, but it makes up about 3% of the Sun’s total mass and glows with its heat from nuclear reactions.<\/span><\/p>\n

It’s about 86,000 miles (138,000 kilometers) thick and weighs about 150 grams per cubic centimeter. That’s about eight times the weight of gold and 13 times the weight of lead.<\/span><\/p>\n

When the Sun first formed, a disk of dust and gas surrounded it. Some of that dust is still around in rings that circle the Sun and trace the orbits of planets.<\/span><\/p>\n

Today, the Sun is in the middle of a long and stable period. This is the period where hydrogen fusion in its core stops, and it begins to shed its outer layers into a cooler, dense type of star called a white dwarf.<\/span><\/p>\n

This part of the Sun will last about five billion years and eventually stop moving. In that time, it will push the Moon back to the Earth until its disc gets too big and obstructs the Sun’s view from Earth.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Sun is 93 million miles away from Earth, or about one astronomical unit (AU). The distance between Earth and the Sun changes dramatically as the planet rotates on its axis.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Moon<\/span><\/h2>\n

The Moon is one of the most iconic objects in the night sky and is an important part of our planet. However, the Moon is a differentiated world like Earth, meaning it has various layers and compositions.<\/span><\/p>\n

Its distance from us varies throughout its orbit. When it’s closest to the Earth (known as perihelion), it’s about 225,623 miles (363,104 kilometers) away. At its furthest from the Earth (known as apogee), it’s about 252,088 miles (405,696 kilometers) away.<\/span><\/p>\n

In a sidereal month, the Moon completes an entire circle around Earth, from New to Full Moon. The New Moon is the shortest and most recent phase of the Moon’s orbit around the planet, lasting just 27.3 days.<\/span><\/p>\n

At its orbit’s shortest and most recent point, it looks about the same size as the Sun against our planet. However, the full Moon will appear slightly bigger during perigee (sometimes called a supermoon) and smaller at apogee, which is when it’s farthest from the Earth.<\/span><\/p>\n